Two Thousand and Ten Ch. 02

"So come on," Clive said encouragingly, "what's this complicated problem of yours?"

Lindi sighed, she could no longer side-step the issue without coming across as having something to hide.

"It's erm... it's my friend." Lindi said eventually, "He's, well... he's in a spot of trouble at the moment."

"Your friend?" Clive asked, "He?? Do you... do you already have a boyfriend?!?"

"No, nothing like that. We grew up together." Lindi explained just as she had countless other times to countless other people, "We both went to the same school and the same university. We both lost our parents and we have very little in the way of family. He's the nearest thing I have to a brother and I would do anything for him. But the other day he erm... found himself in a spot of bother."

"What sort of bother? If you don't mind my asking."

"Well, it's somewhat delicate but... he's erm... been accused of something." Lindi said.

"What's he supposed to have done?" Clive asked.

"Rape." Lindi said with a sigh.

"RAPE?!?" Clive said aghast at this revelation, "Your friend is a rapist?!? He doesn't sound like a very good friend if you ask me!"

"It isn't like that!" Lindi said defensively, "He didn't do it. Or at least, I'm pretty certain he didn't do it."

"So what happened to get him accused of raping someone then?" Clive asked.

"He was attending a conference in Nottingham and after a day of speeches and seminars he decided to go and unwind at a pub. He met a young woman there and they hit it off and the two of them went back to his hotel room. They ended up having sex, which was entirely consensual according to what Peter told me, but when he woke up the next morning he found that she had disappeared. Anyway, the next day, just as he was about to check out of the hotel, he found himself being arrested and charged with raping her. The magistrate refused bail and now he's in prison awaiting trial."

"How can you be certain that he didn't do it?" Clive asked.

"Because, well... you see, I can't be one hundred percent certain that he didn't rape her." Lindi said, "But I owe it to him as a friend to be there for him, at least until after the trial. And I owe it to myself to try and track down this girl and get her side of the story before I condemn him. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt, he is my oldest and dearest friend and he has been there for me many times over the years, I owe him that much at least."

"So how do you propose to uncover the truth?" Clive enquired as he took a sip of coffee.

"Well, the only thing I can do is to try to track her down. The only thing I have to go on is a description of her and the halls of residence where she lives. She's a student, you see. Anyway, for the past few days I have been staking out the place hoping to run into her. I was there earlier today in fact, and I'll probably be there tomorrow as well."

"Well, you're certainly going the extra mile for him - he must be worth it." Clive said.

"He is." Lindi replied simply.

Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 11:54pm

Lindi climbed gratefully into bed utterly exhausted. Her date with Clive had gone well and they had already made plans to see each other again. He seemed like the perfect gentleman - he had paid for the meal despite Lindi's protestations that she was a modern woman who didn't need a man to pay for her. And she had been pleased to discover that he didn't expect something in return. She reasoned that she probably would've slept with him if he had wanted her to, but had been gladdened to find out that he respected her too much to just hop into bed with her at the first invitation. It was either that or her recounting of Peter's predicament to him that had made him more cautious about jumping towards a sexual relationship too soon.

Besides, she had another early start tomorrow; already she had her alarm set for six in the morning. Up to now she had been using Peter's car but in the interest of trying not to attract too much suspicion, she had decided to take her own car which would be less conspicuous than the flashy BMW M5 which, although she had come to enjoy driving, did tend to stand out a little.

She clicked off her bedside lamp and within minutes she was soundly asleep.

Friday, April 23rd 2010 - 2:32pm

"Lindi!!" Peter exclaimed as she entered the visitor's area of Nottingham Prison.

He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly before bursting into a fit of sobbing. Lindi reciprocated in kind, her own tears mimicking his. Their tearful embrace briefly attracted the attention of the other visitors and the inmates they had come to see, but it seemed as though everyone in the room understood the emotional nature of their embrace and paid little more attention to it. Eventually, they parted and sat down at the table.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner, I've been somewhat preoccupied trying to track down this Stevie woman." Lindi began, "And you know how it is with work and everything else. I had to use up a day's leave to come and see you today and I will be spending the weekend up here staking out this Nightingale House place to see if I can spot her. Oh, and as far as your work is concerned, I had to tell your boss - I told him you were in a spot of bother up here with the police but that it wasn't your fault and everything, except he thinks you are being held for nicking stuff from the hotel rather than for rape. He says he's putting you on 'gardening leave' until everything gets sorted out."

"I really appreciate everything you are doing for me Lin, but just remember to be very careful okay." Peter said, "And thanks for getting hold of Mr. Acheson for me - he really seems to have his head screwed on. He says he is confident of getting the rape charge thrown out since it is her word against mine."

"Well, that's fantastic!" Lindi enthused.

"It is," Peter replied, "but the issue of the bruising in her vagina won't go away so easily. Believe me Lin, if she hadn't been egging me on to be so rough with her I would never have done such a thing. I mean, you saw how I was when I had sex with Alison. Was I anything less than gentle with her?"

"I know Peter, I know." Lindi said.

"Oh my God, does she know about any of this?" Peter asked, if she discovered that he was an alleged rapist would she decide to do something drastic if she discovered that their union had been successful?

"I had to tell her Peter, it was unfair on both of them to keep them in the dark." Lindi said, "But don't worry, neither of them believe any of it. In fact, Alison has even offered to help with stakeout duties. Since she doesn't have the same work commitments as me she can come up here during the week and look out for her. I mean, she can only spare a couple of days a week but that more than doubles the amount of time we can spend up here trying to find her. She regards you as a really close friend Peter - you're hopefully the father of her, sorry, their child. She sees it as her duty to help you out. I mean, she was as shocked as I was when I first told her, but she immediately came to your defence - she says she would be more than happy to stand as a character witness for you."

"Oh God Lindi, I'm in such a mess aren't I?!?" Peter sniffled as another tear trickled down his cheek.

"Now come on Peter, pull yourself together!" Lindi said, "We're going to get through this okay, we're going to track her down and get her to see sense. All we have to do is be patient."

"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one in here having to deal with the daily threat of being beaten up or even being raped myself!!" Peter replied angrily.

He sighed heavily, realising that he had snapped at his friend.

"I'm sorry Lin," he said after a moment, "I didn't mean to have a go at you. It's just that this is all such a bloody mess and it feels like there is nothing I can do about it. You know, I saw the prison chaplain the other day. I told him everything, about how I ended up in here. He seemed to understand, about how I was living every man's worst nightmare, but he refused to judge me. He said that the truth will out in the end, one way or another; I just have to put my faith in those who are trying to help me. And I do have faith in you Lin - I know you and Alison and Mr. Acheson are doing every thing you can do. I can't ask for any more than that, and believe me, I will be eternally grateful to all of you."

"Believe me, I'm doing everything I can possibly think of to find her." Lindi said, "I've been sitting outside that building for hours waiting for her to show up. Heh! I even invested in one of those 'She-wee' things so that I can pee into a bottle in the car so that I don't have to abandon my stakeout for a second!"

This little revelation of her purchasing the small plastic device that allowed women to urinate in a similar fashion to men caused Peter to smile.

"You bought a She-wee?!?" He laughed, "Oh Lin, now that is going beyond the call of duty!"

"More like going beyond the call of nature, you mean!" Lindi said and joined in the flurry of impromptu laughter.

"Anyway, there's um... something else I need to tell you." Lindi continued once their laughter died down.

"Oh yeah?" Peter replied.

"I got a text while I was on my way up here." Lindi said and she reached across the table and took hold of her friend's hands, "It was from Alison. She's... pregnant. You're going to be a father!"

"Oh my God, that's fantastic!!" Peter gasped, but just as suddenly as he felt a flood of elation at Lindi's news, he was hit by a tsunami of despair. An emotion that instantly showed on his face and one which Lindi picked up on almost immediately.

"We will get you out of here Peter," Lindi said, sensing why he suddenly felt so bad, "You will get a chance to see your child."

Thursday, April 29th 2010 - 6:27pm.

The search for Stevie Williams was beginning to take its toll on everyone involved, but especially on Lindi in particular. The frustration of waiting for her to turn up, coupled with the stress of travel to and from Nottingham, had caused her to become crabby and irritable. It had all come to a head when she had snapped at one of her pupils and Michaela, her head of department, had become involved after the pupil's parents had threatened to report her to the authorities. Thankfully, Michaela had persuaded them to back down but she had sent Lindi home early to calm down with the instruction to come in the next day in a better frame of mind.

And so Lindi sat alone in her flat, aimlessly watching rubbish on the television and picking at a microwave meal for one that she didn't particularly want.

How much longer would it take to find her? More to the point, how many times had their paths so very nearly crossed? Did she even exist at all?? It felt at times as if they were on a wild goose chase.

At least she had Clive to help keep her sane, he had even come along with her to join in the stakeout - to him it was just as much a date as it was helping to track down Peter's accuser. She had another date scheduled with him for the following Saturday, he had promised to show her his studio and possibly even pose for some photos. She liked him enormously; he seemed to be everything that she was looking for in a man - kind, generous, funny and considerate. She hoped that he was just as good a lover as he was a friend and she knew that she would find out in the fullness of time. She would sleep with him eventually, she had decided - it was only a matter of being in the right place at the right time, both physically and emotionally.

Yes, she was looking forward to the months ahead, but it would only be perfect if only she could find Stevie Williams and get her to admit the truth. If only it would result in Peter being set free without a stain on his character.

If only she could be the friend to him that he had been to her over the years.

If only she could come to his rescue.

If only.

If only.

What will become of Peter? Will Lindi ever manage to intercept Stevie and discover the truth about what really happened in Peter's hotel room? Will she be able to provide the evidence to free her friend? Will Clive become the love of Lindi's life or is there more to him than meets the eye?

All will be revealed in the next chapter of...

Two Thousand and Ten